Behind the Blazers Locker Room Door: In Cleveland

Before, and after, the Blazers' 97-92 overtime loss to the Cavaliers on Thursday, there were jokes, tests, and scary moments revealed. It's all Behind the Blazers Locker Room door ...

'This ain't no time to be calm. I can't feel my legs'

Had quite the pre-game experience with LaMarcus Aldridge on Thursday.

As I arrived at The Q, Aldridge was on the top of my to-do list. Obviously a big part of the night's story was going to be whether he was going to play. The general consensus among the Blazers travelling party was that he was.

Aldridge arrived on the second of two buses for the Blazers, and I guess an omen for the night came when he totally bypassed the Blazers locker room walking down the hall. If it wasn't for Steve Blake coming out of the locker room door and assistant Bill Bayno coming the other way to enter, Aldridge most likely would have ended up getting undressed in the media room.

When I reached the locker room, I found a much different Aldridge than the guy I left in Indiana when he was a dazed and confused kid who struggled to process a question-and-answer session.

Aldridge was smiling, happy, laughing ... almost giddy. He reminded me of a guy who is getting his first buzz off beer. A little goofy.

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For more of Jason Quick's Behind the Locker Room Door series, click here.

Soon, I realized his emotions were partial relief. Aldridge had a newfound appreciation for feeling "normal".

With Blake and Joel Przybilla present, Aldridge recounted many details of the incident with Jeff Foster that caused him to suffer a mild concussion and spend the night in Indianapolis.

First off, Aldridge said it was Foster's shoulder that crashed into his temple, not his chest as I reported on Wednesday.

When he went to the floor, Aldridge said he lost all feeling in both of his legs.

"That's why I was so scared,'' Aldridge said. "And Joel there comes up and tells me ... what did you say to me Joel 'Let's go'?''

"No, I said, 'Come on, get up,''' Przybilla said with a grin.

"Yeah, and then Jay Jensen comes up,'' Aldridge says, his voice changing to imitate the Blazers' trainer. " 'OK, LaMarcus, just calm down, breathe. Just relax ...' And I'm like; 'Jay! This ain't no time to be calm. I can't feel my legs!' ''

Then, like they did in Indiana, Przybilla and Aldridge recounted how Jensen always asks a guy who has been hit in the head to count backward from 100 by 8s.

About this time, Craig Sager from TNT sashayed his way into the locker room in his light blue shoes and asked which hospital Aldridge stayed in overnight in Indianapolis. Aldridge couldn't remember, saying he just took off and threw away his hospital bracelet. Sager then asked him if anyone stayed the night with Aldridge.

"Yeah, Kaleb Canales,'' Aldridge said. "Coach Canales.''

Canales the video coordinator turned assistant coach, has become especially close with Aldridge and the two often talk about being humble, and how outside recognition doesn't matter. Canales absolutely HATES attention and has refused interviews in the past, but has recently started opening up, going as far as being interviewed pregame by Blazers Broadcasting.

"Look at this, getting Kaleb more pub,'' Aldridge said chuckling. "If Kaleb sticks with me, I will take him all the way to the top!''

A revelation in the shower

By this time, a good 15 minutes has passed, and Jensen has joined the circle of conversation between Aldridge, Blake, Przybilla and I a couple times, leaving to take care of ankles and other business, but always coming back to check on Aldridge.

Eventually, Jensen can't take it anymore.

"Dude. What are you doing? You've got to get out there and test this. I've got to tell Nate whether you are playing or not,'' Jensen said, taking a seat next to Aldridge.

Aldridge still hasn't taken a stitch of clothing off.

"Jay, since this has happened, I've been slow,'' Aldridge said. "Everything I do is slow.''

Jensen is visibly taken aback.

"Are you serious?''

"Jay, I was in my room today trying to remember who we played last night,'' Aldridge said. "And it took me 45 minutes.''

"This happened last night?''

"No, Jay. Today. In my room. It was seriously 45 minutes. I was in the shower when it came to me that it was Indiana we played,'' Aldridge said.

"Well, I need you to get out there and try it out,'' Jensen said. "And I mean really try it out. Not just jog around, really run and test it.''

Shav gets wide-eyed

By now, Blake and Przybilla have gone to the court, leaving only me and Shavlik Randolph with Aldridge, who finally begins to get into his warmup gear.

Randolph overhears Jensen's final orders and asks Aldridge what the hubbub was about.

"They want to know if I can play or not tonight,'' Aldridge said.

"There's a chance you won't play?'' Randolph said, wide-eyed. "Wow!''

At that moment, and very quickly, Randolph grabbed the scouting report off the chair in front of Jerryd Bayless' locker and began thumbing through it.

Aldridge couldn't help but crack up.

"He said 'Wow!','' Aldridge said. "Looks like some playing time, huh Shav?''

And the first shot draws nothing but ...

All suited up, Aldridge is ready to hit the court.

"Let's give this a try,'' Aldridge says to me as he leaves the locker room.

On the way to the court, I chide him that he will probably go out and air ball his first five shots, the exact opposite of his experience this week in Memphis, when he couldn't miss at shootaround and pregame warmups.

Canales joins us, and Aldridge can't wait to tell him about dropping his name to Sager, asking me to verify the event to Canales.

After exchanging pleasantries with former Texas teammate Daniel Gibson, Aldridge finds assistant Joe Prunty. The moment of truth has come.

The first shot, from about 15 feet away on the baseline draws nothing but .... Air. It was short by a good five feet. I mean seriously short.

I was sitting on the scorer's table and I was stunned. Easily the worst shot I have ever seen Aldridge take. He immediately looked over at me and raised his eyebrows, as if to say 'Did that really just happen?'

Prunty feeds him another pass. From the same spot Aldridge unloads. Nothing but net. Again, another look my way, this time it says 'When you've got it, you've got it.' The next two are the same thing, nothing but net. He looks like the L.A. of old.

Eventually, Aldridge starts to test more skills, dribbling behind his back, between his legs. All the while he is draining shots. At this point, I am certain he is going to play. And I think Aldridge was feeling the same way.

But then came Bayno, with his puffy arm pads he uses to beat up on Blazers while they shoot in order to simulate game-like contact. With Canales on one side and Bayno on the other, Aldridge is ordered to take a pass from Prunty then dribble penetrate through Canales and Bayno on his way to the hoop as Bayno bops him.

The first attempt is disaster. Aldridge nearly loses the ball on his first dribble, letting it bounce high above his head on his first power step. He shakes his head and covers his eyes. After two more attempts he tells Bayno and Prunty he is having trouble with his vision, motioning his hands in short, quick, back-and-forth motions to accentuate his point.

At the top of the key is assistant Monty Williams, who is working with Travis Outlaw. He stops when he hears Aldridge complaining about his vision. Aldridge switches sides of the court, and in the process I make eye contact with Bayno. At this point, I think Bayno knows Aldridge is done for the night. Bayno has a look that is part concern, part dejection.

Aldridge shoots around a little more, then makes his way back to the locker room. On the way, sideline reporter Rebecca Haarlow asks if he will play.

"I'm going to try,'' Aldridge tells her.

As he heads to the tunnel, he is mobbed by screaming fans wanting autographs. He signs about four or five times but then backs away immediately.

The clamor is too much, he says, it messes with his mind. Still, as we retreat into the back hallway, Aldridge thinks he is still going to play.

Waiting outside the locker room door is Jensen. He is part anxious, part agitated. I get the sense that Jensen was feeling heat from McMillan to provide an answer on Aldridge's status, but Jensen couldn't give him one because Aldridge was taking his time.

Intent and hurried, Jensen approaches, looking directly into Aldridge's eyes. Aldridge, I feel, is ready to tell him he wants to play. From behind comes Williams.

"Tell him the truth, L.A.,'' Williams says. "Make sure you tell him the truth.''

"What's the truth?'' Jensen says, immediately concerned.

Before I can hear what Aldridge says, they disappear into the locker room, which by now is off limits to media.

A blank screen

I return back to the media room unsure what to blog. According to Aldridge, he is playing. But considering Bayno's look, Williams' plea and knowing Jensen's history of being cautious, I can't be sure.

My blank computer screen taunts. I know y'all back home are anxious to hear his status, but when it comes time to put it down on screen, I don't know what to say.

Even though I know the locker room is closed, I decide to head back down the hallway to see if I can catch anyone going in and out of the locker room door. I totally luck out.

As I neared, Jensen popped out and gave me 15 seconds. He says he is holding Aldridge out, that he doesn't want to risk it. He said C-scans and other tests say Aldridge is OK, but he didn't like hearing that Aldridge's vision was blurred and that lights and loud noises bothered him.

"I want to be safe,'' Jensen said.

Jensen forecasted that Aldridge would be ready to play Saturday in Milwaukee, and after the game Aldridge was confident he would go against the Bucks as well.
Shine 'em up

One thing is sure about Milwaukee: I will arrive with shined shoes.

When I first entered the Blazers locker room before Thursday's game, Przybilla jumped all over my black dress shoes, which admittedly were pretty ragged with some mud around the sole.

It was funny, because I almost shined my shoes in Memphis, because the shoe-shiner in my hotel was so theatrical in his luring of customers. I told Blake, Aldridge and Przybilla about his "SHINE-EM-UP!" call.

"That's the South for you,'' Aldridge said. "Getting your shoes shined is a big deal. They take it very seriously. At home (in Dallas), they have a shoe shine at the car wash I go to.''

Przybilla got out of his chair to take a closer look at just how bad my shoes were. And apparently, I wasn't the only one Przybilla had chastised that night.

It's part of what I love about Przybilla. It was a big game, and he already had his intensity dialed up. It's why I've come to call him a "red ass" ... someone who gets pissed.

Przybilla explained this term to Blake and Aldridge, telling them it was all in a back-and-forth he and I have. So for the next minute or so, Aldridge and Blake alternately tried out saying "red ass".

"That's a new one,'' Aldridge said.

Simply Red

We all started talking about having "the red ass", and I mentioned that I've seen Blake get it more this season than ever.

There was a definite elbow to the kidney of Shane Battier in Houston, which Rockets coach Rick Adelman pleaded should have been a flagrant. There was a bull charge at Sebastian Telfair in Minnesota after Telfair hit Blake in the face on an inbound play.

"And don't forget San Antonio,'' Aldridge said.

Both Blake and Przybilla got a big chuckle out of that one ... when Blake squared up against the Spurs Fabrico Oberto, and Przybilla came in with backup.

It was agreed: both Blake and Przybilla are red asses.

"What is it,'' Przybilla asked Blake. "I never used to be one. Is it just getting older?''

"I think it's just getting sick of it over the years,'' Blake said. "It's like, 'I'm not taking this anymore.'''

It's an element that is developing on this team. I've written about it before, but there's some grit developing on this team. Some toughness. Brandon Roy is a tough guy. Przybilla will stand up to anyone - think Andrew Bogut, Tyson Chandler, Oberto ... and Blake can snap at any moment.

Then what do the Blazers go out and do that night against the Cavaliers? They played with grit, toughness and fortitude. After the game, Roy used words like "tough", "dirty", and "playoff" to describe the game. And the Blazers were right there. I don't think that should be lost amid everything that went on.

Speaking of losing ...

Should have seen the strut of Roy before the game ... you would have thought he was a peacock for how proud he was about his Washington Huskies, who were in the process of dispatching Travis Outlaw's Mississippi State Bulldogs in the NCAA Tournament.

"All I heard about was their athletes, how athletic they were,'' Roy crowed to no one in particular. "What are they saying now? But that's why they play the games.''

Roy took a couple of swigs from his Gatorade, then again, to no one in particular.

"That's why they play the games.''

A new focus

Before the second bus arrived at the arena, I went out to the court to see what was happening. Jerryd Bayless had already completed his workout and was resting on the bench.

I had some unfinished business with Bayless, who apparently went on 1080 The Fan in Portland and said he could take me in ping-pong. Funny, but I can recall Bayless ducking my challenges at least twice.

We talked about a challenge, but are having trouble finding a place ... the table at the Blazers practice facility was removed. We have some options - Ken Ackerman said there is one at a Pearl District clothing store - and tentatively began matchup negotiations.

As we were finishing, strength and conditioning coach Bobby Medina came up and asked Bayless what was going on.

I liked hearing that from the kid, because that's something he can bring to this team. His offense right now is a mess, but if he focuses on defense, it will be a reason to play him. He went only 4:48 against the Cavs and wasn't noticeable one way or the other.

Of notice, however, was Sergio Rodriguez, who played 4:08, scoring two points and making two assists without a turnover. I thought Sergio showed some pep, some bounce and made a few things happen. Maybe the two-game benching will turn out to be good for him.

And finally ...

Loved this tidbit from Roy after the loss to Cleveland:

People were wondering if the close-but-no-cigar loss was encouraging to the Blazers.

"Not if we don't play well against Milwaukee,'' Roy said. "I will have to see how we respond. I feel we have put three good games together on this trip. If we can add a fourth, I will consider it good. For the trip.''